Fontes de alimentação de morcego hematófago (Desmodus Rotundus) e fatores associados à sua distribuição espacial na cidade de Salvador, Bahia

Abstract

BARRETO DE SOUZA, C. V. A. Feeding sources of hematophagous bat (Desmodus rotundus) and factors associated with its spatial distribution in an urban area in the city of Salvador, Bahia. Salvador, 2019. 53p. Dissertação (Mestre em Ciência Animal nos Trópicos) - Escola de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia – Universidade Federal da Bahia. The urbanization process changes the composition of fauna in the anthropic environment. The urban structures offer several shelters for wild species that have adapted to these environments, like the chiropterans. Among the species of bats found in cities, hematophagous bats, especially D. rotundus, require greater attention from public health and researchers due to their direct involvement in the transmission of the rabies virus. The present work aims to identify the power source of D. rotundus inhabiting the urban ecosystem, through gastrointestinal content analysis, via molecular data (PCR) from individuals belonging to colonies distributed in the region of Salvador. In addition, to carry out a historical survey of the occurrences registered by the Center for Zoonoses Control in Salvador, Bahia (CCZ), related to chiropterans over a period of seven years (2013 - 2019), with the objective of analyzing the profile of requests involving bat populations, mapping the location of these records and colonies through geoprocessing programs and development of Kernel density maps. To date, 10 samples of gastrointestinal content from bats have been identified: six from chicken (Gallus gallus), three from bovine (Bos taurus), and one from human (Homo sapiens). The results suggest diversified sources of bat feeding and a still recurring practice of raising livestock in urban environments, showing cultural habits brought about by the migration of populations from small cities to large cities in the past decades. The spatial analysis of the records of complaints associated with bats obtained from the CCZ complemented the discussion of the molecular results, identifying areas with a greater number of calls, places of occurrence of this species in the urban environment and areas with concentration of attacks and accidents involving bats. The analysis of the results may contribute to the improvement of the population control of D. rotundus and to the prevention of the reintroduction of the rabies virus in urban centers.